The 2022 running NASCAR, IMSA & other racing things thread

The idea of watching the leaders deal with lapped traffic -- and keeping them lapped -- seems to be completely foreign to the people running auto racing at this moment. Obviously, it's the input of a bunch of Madison Avenue/TV network execs -- "We can't have our audience not know who's leading! And every sponsor should get air time!" -- but dang, that's part of going to a sprint car race or a dirt track. How they work traffic is more interesting than how they pit under caution.

If I had my way, I'd take away the rule allowing pitting under caution, not only just for safety concerns. You shouldn't not only get the advantage of closing back up on your competition but the chance to pass them because of an arbitrary pit stop.

 

And if you don’t want to get lapped, build a better car and bring it to the track. That’s why it’s called a race.
Of course, today’s NASCAR spec cars have pretty much made that moot.

 

My dislike for removing backstretch pit roads has slowly grown. If you don’t want to pit on the backstretch, qualify better.

 

I got into a big but friendly argument with David Poole once (shocker, I know).
John Force failed to qualify for a national event. Poole was beside himself: “You can’t have the sport’s biggest name not racing.”
I responded that if he wanted to race on Sunday, either he or Austin Coil should have done a better job this weekend. They had the same four chances as every other qualifier. If your car’s a POS, put it on the trailer.

 

Kudos to Rick Ware Racing. This is the way.

 

Tough day. We lost Bob Keselowski (Brad's father) to cancer and PRN broadcaster Steve Richards to COVID. Both very well-liked guys in the garage. RIP.

 

RIP indeed.

I remember Bob when he was in ARCA and the trucks and trying to make a go of it. I admired a guy like that. They live in Rochester Hills so perhaps they’re not crying poverty, but he also seemed like an up-by-the-bootstraps type.

 

So the wife and I are sitting down to watch "Don't Look Up" last night, a little Christmas disaster movie magic. The movie is just getting started. There's an introductory scene to get things movng and then the titles start to run. The titles are very clean, brightly colored type, and they fall and slot together like an intentional Tetris. My wife's got the remote control, and she makes this sort of inarticulate chortle noise, grabs it, and hits pause.

"I fucking LOVE that typeface! Look at that, the way that it's all so clean and perfectly spaced. The colors are just right, and the way that they've made the text drop into place so perfectly! They have a goddamn genius of a graphic artist doing these titles, and THEY'RE AMAZING!!!"

Yeah. She's a type nerd. I was laughing my ass off, and I told her on the spot "Remember that ampersand post I showed you? You just wrote the follow up post, because I have some type nerds who will get a grin out of it."

So check it out. Netflix. Maybe three minutes in.

LOL.

 

RIP, Martha Earnhardt. Ralph's wife, Dale's mother, Junior's grandma.

Martha Earnhardt, mother of Dale Sr. and grandmother of Dale Jr., dies at 91 - CBSSports.com

 

Imagine burying your husband and three of your sons — including one two weeks ago.

 

I'm honestly still trying to imagine what Dale Earnhardt's mother must have been like.